Superhero fans worried about child endangerment are about to become very conflicted about the next big comic book movie on the horizon, as Universal announce plans to adapt The Umbrella Academy for the big screen.

Academy - created by My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way and artist Gabriel Ba - follows the adult lives of former child superheroes following the death of their adoptive father and mentor, as they try to reunite to carry out his plan to save the world. Mixing deconstruction with affectionate parody and influences from things like Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol and even Mike Mignola's Hellboy, the comic reads at times like Watchmen as written by the Monty Python team, which may be a tall order for screenwriter Mark Bomback (Race to Witch Mountain) to replicate onscreen (Then again, he also wrote the absurd Live Free Or Die Hard...).

The movie will be co-produced by Universal and Academy publisher Dark Horse, and is the first project from the three year deal between the two signed as a result of the success of last year's Hellboy II (also a Universal/Dark Horse co-production).